Drone operator cited in incident near Washington Monument

A man was cited Wednesday for allegedly flying a drone near the Washington Monument, according to U.S. Park Police.

Federal law prohibits flying remote-controlled aircraft in the restricted airspace around Washington, D.C., and in any area administered by the National Park Service.

This was the 10th reported incident this year involving illegal operation of a drone in a Washington-area national park in 2015, and the 27th since 2013, according to Park Police.

William Stokes Jr. was given a citation for operation of an unmanned aircraft at 9:30 p.m., police said. He was with two other people allegedly flying a Wondertech Zenith drone, which police confiscated.

Among other cases, a drone crashed Jan. 26 on the White House grounds and a drone crashed on the Ellipse near the White House on Oct. 9. No charges were filed in the first incident and a man was cited in the second incident.